Patrick Reinsborough
@giantwhispers.bsky.social
Strategist. Story Changer. Movement-Builder. Co-founder Center for Story-based Strategy, Co-author Re:Imagining Change (PM Press 2017) Fighting for a Just & Livable Future www.patrickreinsborough.org
I appreciate that call to solidarity with all the Dhaka's of our warming planet. Do you have a working definition of what "fuck around a bit" means? Seems like that could be a pretty slippery slope.
I think it's dangerous to pretend geoengineering is a viable option. After all human intervention in planetary systems has already pushed our biosphere to the point of collapse. I think the point is to stop doing that right 😉 More reasons its bad idea: www.geoengineeringmonitor.org/reasons-to-o...
Reasons to Oppose Geoengineering
Here are some of the key reasons to oppose geoengineering, which will be discussed in more depth below:
It doesn't work: None of the technologies have a track record, all of them come with major ri...
#ClimateSky 🔌💡
Close-minded? I'd call it climate strategy 101. Confront industry greenwash. These aren't emergency solutions because they aren't solutions they perpetuate the problem: fossil fuels. CSS is mainly used for "enhanced oilfield recovery" and DAC while still running a fossil economy is absurd.
That's great. Totally agree there are lots of different roles and we need everybody. I also think that regardless of approach we all need to be educating the public about how the entrenched power of the fossil fuel industry and their Wall St backers are currently sabotaging progress.
If you know history you probably know mass organizing has been a key driver of almost all human progress. Will it work in time? Who knows? But those fake techno-fixes sure won’t. 😉 So I recommend folks put their time, passion. money and whatever they got into organizing like-minded folks to act.
And when you say “people refuse to change” I think that’s a dangerous misreading of our current dilemma. Climate action has super-majority support in almost every country in the world. But it's a structural issue and we need organized people power to counter all the $$$$ that corrupts government.
Not me single-handely LOL. Millions of people around the world are taking action to confront governments, fossil fuels and (perhaps most importantly) their financial backers on Wall Street. Do you consider yourself part of the climate movement? If not what's stopping you joining a group or campaign?
DAC is not a realistic solution to the crisis. It's just part of the fossil fuel industry's strategy to delay the actual solution–phasing out fossil fuels–as long as possible.
bsky.app/profile/did:...
The quiet part out loud:
"Vicki Hollub, CEO of Oxy—a fossil fuel company which has rebranded itself as a “carbon management” company—said recently that carbon capture “gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years.” #ClimateSky 🔌💡 newrepublic.com/article/1814...
Is Carbon Capture Cause for Hope?
Lots of people want to see more "hope" and less "doom" about climate change. But a new facility to suck carbon out of the air shows why it's more complicated than that.
newrepublic.comClose-minded? I'd call it climate strategy 101. Confront industry greenwash. These aren't emergency solutions because they aren't solutions they perpetuate the problem: fossil fuels. CSS is mainly used for "enhanced oilfield recovery" and DAC while still running a fossil economy is absurd.
This is an awesome piece of provocative sound art made by two brilliant women and you should listen to it!
Marsification: A tale of planetary grief is a concept album/audio story my friend Zara and I have been working on for the past several years. It's finally out and I hope you'll look at our WILD website and give it a listen! marsification.com
REMINDER: Techno-fix solutions promoted by the fossil fuel industry (CCS, DAC, geoengineering etc) are NOT intended to solve the climate crisis. They are intended to solve the crisis that getting off fossil fuels would cause to these corporation's massive profits. #ClimateSky #DeGrowth 🔌💡
Just as we take our seats to listen to ALOK at the Fox, the music stops and the MC tells us she has been together with the DJ for 10 years and how they fell in love seeing shows at this theater then she drops to one knee and proposes to her girlfriend. The crowd goes wild! Lovebomb for the win!
I think more of us should use the term "morbidly rich" when describing America's wealthy elite. But while the rest of us are upping our rhetorical game Thom's got us covered. #CallThemOligarchs hartmannreport.com/p/the-last-t...
The Last Time Oligarchs Tried to Take Over America It Led to Civil War
Is America in the final stage of the 40-year transition from a forward-looking & still-evolving democratic republic into a white supremacist ethnostate ruled by a small group of fascist oligarchs?
hartmannreport.comYou probably already know about them but in case you don't... Political Research Associates and their Public Eye magazine document a lot of stuff about gender and authoritarianism in various right-wing movements. politicalresearch.org
I think wore of us should use the term "morbidly rich" when describing America's wealthy oligarchs. But while the rest of are upping our rhetorical game Thom has us covered:
hartmannreport.com/p/the-last-t...
The Last Time Oligarchs Tried to Take Over America It Led to Civil War
Is America in the final stage of the 40-year transition from a forward-looking & still-evolving democratic republic into a white supremacist ethnostate ruled by a small group of fascist oligarchs?
hartmannreport.comReally? That's what you took form the critique of climate greenwash & techno-fixes? Come on!? IDK unless you are trying to misrepresent it maybe re-read the thread? Regardless climate's a big problem, lots of room for multiple approaches. What do you think society should be doing about climate?
Climate deniers are the flat-earthers of our time. Obviously future generations will judge them harshly. But ironically if we don't curtail this calculated insanity, there definitely won't be a Florida or perhaps future generations to judge them. #ClimateSky 🔌💡
www.democracynow.org/2024/5/17/he...
Ron DeSantis Eliminates Climate Change as Priority in Florida’s Energy Policy
In Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill that removes all references to “climate change” in state law and weakens regulations on pipelines, among other measures. The move elimina...
www.democracynow.orgBAY AREA: Fri May 17 6 pm in Oakland. I caught the tour tonight in SF and can say if you are interested in deep system change don't miss this unique chance to hear first hand accounts from one of the most significant social movements of the 21st century. actionnetwork.org/events/repor...
Report from Rojava (Oakland, CA)
We are excited to announce our upcoming West Coast speaking tour, Report from Rojava: Women’s Revolution, Direct Democracy & Social Ecology in North-East Syria, which will take place May 11th - 17...
actionnetwork.orgRojava public tour is in the Bay! SF tonight Oakland tomorrow. Updates about one of the most inspiring and profound revolutions happening today. Find out more at www.defendrojava.org
Social change 101: How society defines the problem determines the solutions.
But industry's strategy is greenwash, delay, confuse people about the fact that the problem is burning fossil fuels. So not all "solutions" are real and incremental progress in the wrong direction is NOT progress.
It is is true I'm failing to ignore you LOL ;) Hopefully this is my last. Seems you don't actually care about my strategies since I'm just some internet strawman and you want to "win" some undeclared imagined debate. But if you want to critique my actual work check out pmpress.org/index.php?l=...
Really!? Really!? You think you know what my "strategy" is? And you think people on the internet should spend their time arguing with randos they don't even know who they don't even work with? Doesn't that seem a little entitled to you?
ps I'm not a doomer. Reminder you know nothing about my work.
With all due respect, random internet dude: You seem to be one of those social media gotcha debaters types that wants to project all sorts of things onto me. That's not how I like to go about my work so I'm going to politely end our conversation here. Best of luck in all your social change efforts.
I'm not a fan of capitalism but you seem to have conflated my comments about fossil capitalism with the whole capitalist system. That's not what I said and perhaps for the same reason as you I don't think it's helpful to define system change around some one-dimensional concept of "overthrowing".
Sounds like we both want to avoid mass death and suffering but we disagree on the how. I think we need to build the political power to assert democratic control over energy. And thus the power of fossil fuel interests is exactly the question. I guess you think otherwise?
I'm flattered anyone thinks of me as "known for" anything ;) but most of my work is about the role of narrative in organizing. And I can assure you despite whatever you seem to want to project on me I don't believe fear motivates people or movements. I think fear is mainly used to prevent change.
System change is already underway via the energy transition. I believe in social movements as a key driver to accelerate it millions of people are already mobilizing in many ways such as shifting Wall Street investment strategy "aka fossil capital" One campaign example of many: www.summerofheat.org
I'm no expert on marine clouds but the critic's concern is all the unknown impacts. And zooming out to the broader techno-fix approach, sure maybe some stuff we'll need. But right now things like CCS, DAC, geoengineering etc. are being cynically deployed to justify continued fossil fuel use.
I'm with you on not start fires but not sure how that helps us since tragically the planet's already burning and the current economic model is just dumping more (literal) gasoline on the flames.
Nice analogy. But in terms of climate techno-fixes perhaps more about people saying:
Why are you trying to sell fake safety harnesses? What we need are fire extinguishers. Wait… does Big Arson actually support your work? Ooooh is that why your safety harness research is so well funded? #ClimateSky
I understand the sentiment. But IMHO the danger is it misframes our current crisis which is not the lack of climate solutions, it's the entrenched power of fossil capitalism. We have a limited window to harness public outrage for real system change. Let's not dilute it with techno-fix fantasies.
REMINDER: Climate change doesn't care if you believe in it or not. So it's up to all of us to help our society stop denying reality. 🔌💡 #ClimateSky
Good pun! I agree with all hands on deck. But we know how to address the problem: get off fossil fuels. That's a big complex problem that everyone should be focusing on. I see geoengineering as a dangerous distraction and one that is and will be used to cynically justify maintaining fossil fuels
We know how to solve the climate crisis. It's not some mystery. We need to transition off fossil fuels. But instead governments & corporations are actually adding new fossil fuels. Do you think cloud whitening is going to get us off fossil fuels or do you just want to feel smug and righteous?
I mean Cloud “whitening” to save us from a planet-wrecking ecocidal system which just happens to be the same system that created the concept of whiteness to help justify all the planet-wrecking in the first place?
Am I the only one who sees some irony here? #ClimateSky
Cloud brightening, aka “whitening” to try and cool the planet instead of you know stopping heating it up with fossil fuel emissions and ecosystem destruction? Call me crazy but any chance rich “white” people come up with this? #ClimateSky
GIFT LINK: www.nytimes.com/2024/05/13/c...
Cloud Brightening Study in California Is Halted by Local Officials
Researchers had been testing a sprayer that could one day be used to push a salty mist skyward, cooling the Earth. Officials stopped the work, citing health questions.
www.nytimes.com
"...worry that research to artificially cool the planet will distract attention and resources away from efforts to address the root cause of climate change, which is the continued combustion of fossil fuels."
Yep. Sounds about right to me. #ClimateSky 🔌💡
GIFT: www.nytimes.com/2024/05/13/c...
Cloud Brightening Study in California Is Halted by Local Officials
Researchers had been testing a sprayer that could one day be used to push a salty mist skyward, cooling the Earth. Officials stopped the work, citing health questions.
www.nytimes.comOoof! I have definitely encountered this and I fear this type of delusion is growing and distracting us from maintaining our own planet's livability. Fortunately there's a word that can be used to mock this idea and the whole elite, techno-fix worldview behind it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsifi...
The orcas just won't stop and neither should we. Ask yourself what can me and a few dozen like-minded folks do to challenge systems of Earth-destroying hyperconsumption? #ClimateSky www.reuters.com/world/europe...
Orcas sink sailing yacht in Strait of Gibraltar
An unknown number of orcas have sunk a sailing yacht after ramming it in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain's maritime rescue service said on Monday, a new attack in what has become a trend in the past four years.
www.reuters.com
Congrats Switzerland. Catchy tune. But more importantly it seems to include the line
"Like ammonites I just gave it some time".
I'm left wondering are ammonites a common pop music reference in Switzerland? And when they say I gave it some time... do they mean 400 million years?"
I agree. a very dangerous myth. CCS, DAC & other techno-fixes are NOT about capturing carbon. They suck at that. I think they are better stood as tools to capture the narrative. Sure $$$ from governments but the real profits come from the fossil fuel industry getting to keep frying the planet.
The quiet part out loud:
"Vicki Hollub, CEO of Oxy—a fossil fuel company which has rebranded itself as a “carbon management” company—said recently that carbon capture “gives our industry a license to continue to operate for the 60, 70, 80 years.” #ClimateSky 🔌💡 newrepublic.com/article/1814...
Is Carbon Capture Cause for Hope?
Lots of people want to see more "hope" and less "doom" about climate change. But a new facility to suck carbon out of the air shows why it's more complicated than that.
newrepublic.com
REMINDER: Never again is STILL happening right now.
And if you live in the U.S. your tax dollars are helping pay for it. #CeasefireNOW
REMINDER: International law demands that every individual, regardless of position in society, has an obligation to stop war crimes.
Labor Historian & activist Jeremy Brecher explains anti-genocide protests aren't illegal they are ENFORCING the law! www.labor4sustainability.org/articles/stu...
Student Gaza Protesters Are Enforcing the Law - Labor Network for Sustainability
More than 2000 protestors have been arrested in pro-Palestinian demonstrations since mid-April. They have been charged with “criminal trespass” and other crimes. University officials, police, and poli...
www.labor4sustainability.orgREMINDER: Climate Delay is the new Climate Denial. #ClimateSky 🔌💡
REMINDER: Some words are meant to be sung 🎶
[AKA that chant you are repeating for the hundredth time might not sound quite as cool & inspiring as you think it does...] #ClimateSky
Yes I'm familiar with the history and propaganda including (gasp!) the 1941 Hitler Grand Mufti meeting. But you're a random person on the internet and I'm not a social media brawler. Sounds like we disagree and I doubt that's going to change so let's just stop our unpleasant little chat here.
Obviously Oct 7 was terrible but I'm sure you know this conflict is a lot older than that right? And if you think Oct 7 justifies Israel starving a million civilians and killing tens of thousands of innocent children then just come out and say it. It's called being pro-genocide.